For the second year in a row, PG&E has supported this effort to honor and celebrate our troops by offering race fans the opportunity to underwrite the purchase of tickets to major racing events for active duty military, veterans and reservists.  Building on the success of last year’s program, this year’s “PG&E Tickets for Troops” program will provide tickets not only for Military Appreciation Day at the Indy® Grand Prix on August 28th, but will also make it possible for the men and women of the Armed Forces to attend the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday, June 26th during NASCAR weekend at Infineon Raceway.

The Sunday, June 26th NASCAR event will display a patriotic theme including an air show by the Patriots Jet Demonstration Team, followed by the singing of the National Anthem, military fly-bys and an Army cannon national salute to start off the race. This great partnership between PG&E, the USO and Infineon Raceway offers a tremendous opportunity for race fans to honor our troops and show appreciation in a meaningful way.

PG&E will be providing NASCAR tickets for other deserving community members as well – 200 tickets for Sunday’s race will be distributed to kids and families involved with PG&E’s Solar Schools Program in Sonoma County.

See you at the races, and don’t forget to show your support for the men and women serving our country! Visit Infineon Raceway’s website for information about purchasing NASCAR tickets for troops.

San Francisco Giants President Larry Baer and civic leader and philanthropist Nancy Bechtle were officially introduced as co-chairs of the celebration’s steering committee, and the official anniversary seal was unveiled on the iconic Round House in the southeast plaza. Many more details will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead, but for now, take a look at some of the media coverage from Friday’s announcement at the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District‘s offices:

San Francisco Chronicle

NBC Bay Area

Visit the 75th Anniversary website for much more information about the many exciting programs and events planned, and see more photos from last Friday’s announcement here. This will be a huge celebration spanning several months, and will be a fitting lead into the America’s Cup races to follow.

As the exclusive sponsorship agency of the celebration, BSS is welcoming inquiries as we seek a series of major corporate and media sponsors to support the event. Companies will enjoy category exclusivity, brand integration into most celebration elements, and close association with one of the most revered landmarks in the world. Please email or call if your company is interested in participating.

Check our site weekly for regular updates on this and other sponsorship news!

We are thrilled to be involved in developing sponsors for the celebration of the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Anniversary. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy has been contracted to develop a year-long celebration that will include a major festival on Memorial Day weekend 2012, a series of 75 Tributes conducted by high-profile community partners and significant upgrades at the visitor’s area on the south (SF) side of the bridge.

We are working with the Parks Conservancy to develop the sponsors needed to promote and fund these activities. Download the one sheet to learn more about the celebration and the sponsorship opportunities available. Please contact us if your company would be interested in participating and keep checking here for more news.

The World Champion San Francisco Giants are teaming up with PG&E to host several groups of students from PG&E Solar School classes throughout the 2011 season. On Saturday, May 7, a group from Discovery Charter School in San Jose were treated to a behind-the-scenes green ballpark tour, with highlights addressed by Giants staff, telling the story of the country’s first LEED certified existing ballpark.

The group was then able to participate in an on-field ceremony with post-season star Cody Ross just before the Giants and Rockies played a game eventually won by the Giants in thrilling fashion. The Giants, as always, did an outstanding job of taking care of a sponsor and its guests. PG&E does so much great work in the community and the Giants provide an ideal platform for telling their story.

We are proud of the work we have conducted for Infineon Raceway over the past year, consisting of the program development, planning and partner recruitment that led to last week’s major announcement and media event detailed here. The Raceway has taken a powerful step toward becoming one of the most socially responsible tracks in the country by partnering with Panasonic and others to develop a sustainable energy program using solar, LED and efficiency measures to reduce grid-based power by nearly half.

It was a year ago this month that I met with Steve Page, Frank Gullum and Matt Ellis of Infineon Raceway to begin mapping out a plan for driving sustainability at the venue through a series of partnerships. We proceeded to create a unique, cutting-edge program that drew upon many of my past projects and leveraged the raceway’s innovative thinking and deep commitment to truly serving the needs of their partners. We chose to build the program from a base of energy efficiency and renewable power and proceeded to develop a partner ecosystem that will serve the Raceway, its partners, fans and the extended community for many years to come.

Learn more about this unique new program, our proud partnership with Panasonic, and the creative ways Infineon Raceway is walking the eco walk by following the links below. I’ll provide more information soon including our plans for the new Green Performance program and for the next naming partner of the track.

Infineon Raceway Links:
Press Release
Video
Podcast
Photo Gallery

Selected Press Links:
Auto Evolution: Infineon Raceway Goes Solar
Autostream.com: Infineon Raceway Goes Green
Forbes.com: Green and Racetrack, Synonymous?
KXPR 88.9 Capital Public Radio: Infineon Going Green
Napa Valley Register: Infineon Raceway going even greener
NASCAR.com: Infineon Raceway to use solar power in 2011
Sports Business Journal: Panasonic deal to give Infineon solar panels
Triple Pundit: Infineon Raceway Announces Solar Partnership with Panasonic

Venue infrastructure improvements are now underway for the 2011 season, accomplished with the assistance of several new partnerships that will be announced in the coming months. BSS continues to assist with bringing in partners for the program on a targeted basis. With its commitment to a sustainable and tech-savvy approach to the enhancement of their venue, Infineon Raceway has solidified its role as a progressive leader in the world of motorsports.

The new partnerships, developed under the umbrella of the Sustainable Partnership program, will help the raceway greatly reduce its carbon footprint by way of a substantial new solar energy system, new solar-powered LED message board and several energy efficiency measures. There will also be a new green media/business center and technology upgrades, all driven by new corporate partners.

Details of these new relationships will be announced in November, so stay tuned! In the meantime, check back early next week to learn more about the raceway’s planned sustainability measures for 2011.

• They are coming together from a cohesive front, without loud opposition, which is really saying something for the Bay Area. The organizers, led by the San Francisco Mayor’s office, chose not to bypass environmental reviews that could have led to protests. They have not yet submitted environmental impact reports but will work through a review with key stakeholders during the planning process.

• Land is being offered for use at no cost, with a requirement that capital improvements be made to the piers and surrounding areas that will be used for the races. This will lead to much-needed upgrades of these prized but worn out assets as well as new commercial uses for the surrounding areas.

• An organizing committee led by government officials from all sides of the political spectrum is shaping up. The group includes current and former state and city leaders and other elected officials. This bipartisanship is almost unheard of these days, underscoring the unified front being set forth with the bid.

• Corporate leaders have been engaged, likely galvanized by the leadership of America’s Cup champion and leader of the pack, software magnate Larry Ellison. A consortium of major corporations have reportedly committed to providing support in some form with many details still to be worked out. There is still a great deal of work to be done in structuring and activating sponsorships – there are sure to be over 100 corporate and media partnerships for the event, requiring  a lot of organizing and management.

• One trick to this effort taking place in a down economy is the need to make this a socially viable program, worthy of all of the corporate funding that will be needed to make it work. Economic development and jobs will be a major selling point, but other cause-related extensions will be needed for it to really work with the public. Expect push back from people who want to see the effort and funds go towards human service and education programs. Ideally, the investment in the event can be leveraged to generate jobs and other forms of economic benefit that will address these social issues in a meaningful way.

Having produced professional sailing events on the SF bay back in the 90s – the Citibank Cup regattas at Pier 39, which were toy boat races compared to America’s Cup – I know first hand how many sailing enthusiasts will come out in support of an effort like this. Now we will need the corporate community, small businesses, media and the public at large to embrace the concept. This will be huge for the Bay Area and all of California – let’s wish the organizers calm seas and smooth sailing as they move forward with the bid.

The 49ers are moving forward with grand plans for a new stadium in Santa Clara and admittedly have their work cut out for them, economically speaking. Given that the new stadium will be in the heart of the Silicon Valley, it is critical that they crack the tech sector for sponsorships and hospitality sales. Historically, tech companies are not the most active sponsors, and most regional sponsorship properties have difficulty generating much revenue from the sector. However, if a property truly engages companies in the space with their interests in mind and finds ways to integrate technology in a meaningful way, the major players will step up. Witness Cisco and the planned new Oakland A’s stadium (Cisco Field, now being planned for development in San Jose).

The 49ers are talking about making their new stadium the most technologically advanced in the country with an eye on fan experience enhancement, revenue generation and partner engagement. The organization is led by a group of young executives who seem to really get it and understand the need to talk the talk of the tech companies. They are not trying to force the tech companies to just see the value in working with a storied NFL franchise. By engaging the big corporate players on the latter’s terms, finding ways to meaningfully integrate tech products and services into the stadium experience, and extending to the larger media marketplace, the 49ers will generate much greater support from the sector. It is harder work to go in this direction but is, ultimately, the only way to generate the major sponsorships that will be needed to help cover the $800 million price tag of the new stadium. It’s exciting to see their forward-thinking approach to corporate partnerships.

I’ll provide more insights about San Francisco’s America’s Cup bid shortly, and will follow soon with some developments on the greening of Infineon Raceway.

It has been refreshing to witness organizations that are looking at major sponsor recruitment increasingly talk about securing partners and promoting deeper forms of product integration, purchase and deployment, all of which are priorities for companies in certain sectors. Finding ways to really make commercial sense of a sponsorship for a company – think ROI – greatly accelerates the partner development process and helps to justify more significant sponsor investments.

So we have a little silver lining in the recession-driven sponsorship downturn, as the concept of true partnership becomes more the standard way of doing business for sponsorship-seeking properties.

The promotional benefits that the PG&E receives as part of the Giants sponsorship have also provided wonderful opportunities to welcome the company’s community partners to join in the excitement of the Giants experience. Last Saturday, PG&E continued that tradition by inviting representatives from Paradise Intermediate School to be honored in a Home Plate Ceremony that opened the Giants vs. Mets game at AT&T Park. It was Tim Lincecum Bobblehead Day at the ballpark and the stands were packed with eager fans excited about their new PG&E-branded bobbleheads.

During the Home Plate Ceremony, PG&E president Chris Johns presented Paradise Intermediate School teacher Greg Holman with the 2010 PG&E Solar Schools Inspirational Educator Award for his creative and dynamic approach to teaching the principles of renewable energy. They were accompanied by nine of Holman’s former students as well as Giants pitcher Barry Zito. Johns and Holman were each invited to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.

With the support of PG&E’s Solar Schools program, Holman has helped to create a model solar curriculum at Paradise Intermediate School. In 2006, a 1.06 kilowatt photovoltaic system was installed through a PG&E Solar Schools grant which now helps to power the school’s library and computer lab. In 2007, the school was awarded a PG&E Bright Ideas grant, which was used to purchase solar ovens. Paradise Intermediate School students have become so inspired by a sense of environmental and social responsibility that they are now raising money to purchase solar ovens for schools in Africa.

This event at the ballpark illustrates the best kind of sponsorship, that which brings corporate, cultural and educational institutions together in order to do good works and share a positive message with the community. The game proved to be a memorable experience for all involved—the students and teachers from Paradise Intermediate received a thrilling on-field experience for all of their energy-saving efforts; PG&E leadership enjoyed a positive public appearance with excellent hospitality and branding; and the Giants beat the Mets for the third straight day, 8-4. All in all, it was a perfect day at AT&T Park.